Lily paced about in the waiting area. She called Sarah’s mum and told them what happened. Joshua wanted to follow her but she told him to continue the event and meet them after everything is done.

She didn’t know what to expect. She thought it was just minor.

“I should have just taken her home like I wanted to earlier” Lily said to herself. Still pacing about the hallway. She prayed deeply in her heart that nothing serious happened to Sarah.

Footsteps approaching made her open her eyes in expectation, thinking it was the doctor. It was Sarah’s parents, running towards her in panic.

“What happened to my baby? Where is she?” Felicia asked and tried to run up to one of the closed doors but Daniel held her back.

“Honey, you need to calm down,” Felicia looked at him with eyes wide opened.

“Calm down???” she raised her voice. “Why should I calm down our fragile baby is in there fighti-”

“Stop screaming Felicia, else we’ll be kicked out before we get the chance to know how our daughter is doing” Daniel tried to calm her once more and she stopped talking then sobbed on his shoulder.

Lily was a bit confused with what was going on but she knew they needed some comfort, so she walks closer to them and puts her hand on Felicia’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry about this ma’am, I didn’t know it would lead to her being hospitalized again.” Felicia turned around to look at Lily “I do hope it’s not serious like the last time and she’s better again” Lily offered a small smile.

“You… I knew you were a bad influence to Sarah. When she was doing the whole ‘I believe nothing will happen to me’ faith thing. All those weird, stressful outings you take her to. I knew it would be a mistake from you that would put my baby in this kind of situation”

“Babe, stress isn’t a factor he-”

“Of course it is” she interrupted him with a yell, then points at Lily. “Sarah has gone through too much and she’s our only child, please don’t try to kill her for us. We want our baby healthy and whole again. We don’t want anything bad happening to her, you don’t want that too, right? Right?” Felicia asked but Lily was too confused to answer.

‘What does she mean by that? Sarah’s not healthy?’ she asked herself.

“It’s not flu?” there was scrunch on Lily’s forehead.

Felicia laughed and threw her hands up in the air. “Oh yeah, you don’t know. Friend of the year awards” she laughed sarcastically and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Lily asked. She had a feeling it’s not pretty.

“Darling, remember what Sarah wanted? Don’t start anything now” Daniel whispered to her but Felicia shrugged him off.

“She should know, so she can know the pain and stress she’s giving to our baby” she cried.

“Lily isn’t to blame for this. It’s not her fault Sarah has what she does” he held her hand again.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going?” Lily raised her voice.

The doctor walked out of a room with a file in his hand and from his looks, the news wasn’t good.

“It’s back” he looked from father to mother then to father again “The cancer’s back and this time it’s not pretty” he said.

***

“You need to calm down” Joshua said to her from the other end of the line.

Lily had spent the almost three hours in her house crying and the next hour talking to Joshua about Sarah’s condition.

“How can I calm down, Joshua? She didn’t tell me what was happening to her. Why? Why wouldn’t she tell me something that delicate? Why couldn’t she rely on me, her best friend about something that serious? Did she not trust me enough to want to talk to me about that?” she cried.

Joshua sighed. “I don’t think that’s the case, Lily. You very much know you and Sarah are close friends and she probably hid it from you because she didn’t want you worry about her”

“Won’t I get worried when I find out what’s up with her?” she asked, frustration evident in her tone.

“Panicking won’t solve anything” he mentioned and she groaned.

“But why would she keep this to herself? This is a serious disease and should be handled with care and proper treatment. She would have just hinted to me, so I can put her in my prayers while we seek means to cure her completely from it”

“You mean seeking medical advises and treatment?”

“Of course, yes, Joshua. I’m not a doctor and don’t have cure for nothing. We could pray for her while she takes her medication so that she heals fast and made whole but she didn’t. I’m pissed that she would hide this from us”

“I understand your pain here but she needs her best friend now, more than ever. We already know what is going on with her and what we can do for her right now is to be there for her whenever she needs us. Pray for her, stay with her, constantly tell her we will never leave her side. She needs her support system and you have to be there for her” Joshua said.

“You’ll need to put aside all these feelings inside of you and be her bestie. I’m not saying your feelings aren’t valid, they are but at the moment, let it be for her sake then you can talk about it when you guys want to talk about its”

Lily stood from the bed and sat on the floor. A sigh left her lips. She closed her eyes and held her breath for a minute then let it out slowly.

“I am mad at her but you’re right. She needs me and I will be there for her because she’s my bestie and…” the words got stuck in her throat but she was managed to let the rest out. “I just want her to be okay” her voice broke when she spoke the last sentence.

“She will be. GOD will heal her and take away all the pain she’s experiencing” Joshua comforted.

“Amen, I pray so” she cried. “I want to go there and hug her and tell her she has an army behind her who will walk with her through this difficult time” she chuckled lightly.

“That’s what I am talking about” Joshua encouraged. “Will you head back to the hospital now?”

“I heard she’s being transferred home before I left the hospital and currently, I am not her mum’s favorite person,”

“I understand. Parents are always scared for their children”

“I understand also but I’ll still go in case she’s awake and wants to see me” Lily stood to her feet then made her way downstairs. Her mum was not yet back from work and she’s positive Cory is back from school by now. “I’ll call you when I get there so you can speak with her”

“Okay, cheer up, okay? I’ll talk to you later”

“Bye” Lily disconnected the call and set her phone on the table.

There are worse possible cases of cancer patients and Sarah had survived the previous attack as the doctor said, and she could get lucky this time and the cancer would be gone for life.

She tries to tell herself that everything will be okay but she couldn’t be comforted with just that. She wiped a tear that slipped out of her eye and grabbed a glass, filled water into it and drank the content. Her hands shook as she held onto the glass and the tears just kept coming.

“How am I supposed to be a support for Sarah when I can’t get this to stop” she sobbed, her head faced-down on the counter.

She heard footsteps approaching but she was too weak to get herself together and stop crying. She kept sobbing till her older sister raised her from leaning on the counter to face her.

Her vision was clouded with tears but she could see the worry on Cory’s face and hear the panic in her tone as she asked about Sarah.

Cory understood that it was too much for her little sister to handle, so she brought her in for an embrace, so Lily can cry all she wants and she can give her the support she needs.